1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to measurement of visceral fat of a person to be measured, and more particularly, to a technique for measuring the visceral fat of the person with higher precision.
2. Prior Art
A body fat meter for estimating body fat ratio representing the rate of body fat occupying the body of a person using a bioelectrical impedance method has been known as the apparatus that allows facilitated measurement of the health condition at home. Another measurement apparatus such as a blood pressure meter, a pulse meter, etc., have also been put into the market and utilized by those people who take care of the health condition.
An additional apparatus that is capable of measuring a plurality of measurable parameters of the person has also been proposed.
In this connection it is noted that the body fat is classified into two types: subcutaneous fat that is present under the skin mainly in the parts such as an abdomen or legs; and visceral fat that is present around intraperitoneal organs (in portal system such as mesentery and omentum majus). Recently it becomes considered as an essential matter that the amount of visceral fat is greater relative to the total body fat because it leads to occurrence of a complication such as diabetes, myocardial infarction, etc. A method that has been conducted in the special hospitals for knowing the amount of visceral fat is to take a picture of an abdomen using X-ray CT scanner and to calculate the visceral fat area based on the tomographic image of the navel region.
In general, a clinical experiment such as a blood test or a urine analysis is conducted in the hospital and a plurality of resultant data is used to calculate the prevalence rate for determining any possibility of occurrence of the complication.
However, the method of calculating the visceral fat area using the X-ray CT, as described above, is defective in that it makes a person to be measured felt uneasy because he is exposed to a radiation, but in small amount. In addition, the apparatus for embodying the method is rather bulky so that it is not easy to perform the measurement.
The body fat meter generally known in the art for estimating the body fat of a person to be measured using bioelectrical impedance produces a total body fat across the part to be measured without distinguishing between subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Therefore, a method of estimating the visceral fat area based on bioelectrical impedance has been proposed in which the height, body weight, age, sex and girth of the waist of a person to be measured can be used as the parameters to produce a visceral fat value. However, it has been still desired to more precisely calculate the visceral fat value.
The prevalence rate has been produced by analysis of the data generally obtained by the clinical experiment conducted in the hospital, as described above. It involves some skilled persons and takes longer period of time for calculation.
It has been said that the visceral fat is more likely to be reduced, as compared to the subcutaneous fat, if the weight reduction with proper exercise is conducted, in addition to the weight reduction with proper diet. However, any excessive weight reduction by only the diet without any exercise causes significant reduction of fat free mass so that an improvement in blood pressure and pulse rate due to the reduction of body fat is lower than the case where the weight reduction is conducted by the diet with the exercise.
Furthermore, such weight reduction entails the rebound of body weight, and consequently, it may cause and sustain higher blood pressure condition for longer period of time. This becomes a problem, even if the body weight is temporally reduced.
In view of the above the present invention is directed to simple, but highly precise estimation of value of visceral fat by measuring parameters relating to change in visceral fat and using the measured parameters for estimation of the visceral fat.
In addition, the prevalence rate or morbidity index of a person to be measured is calculated, based on the estimated visceral fat area, etc.
Furthermore, it is determined whether the proper weight reduction has been conducted or not, based on the change in visceral fat. A check is also performed in order not to conduct any improper weight reduction.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for measuring visceral fat, comprising: an input unit; a bioelectrical impedance measuring unit; a blood pressure measuring unit; and an arithmetic unit, whereby said input unit enters personal data regarding a body of a person to be measured, said bioelectrical impedance measuring unit measures the bioelectrical impedance of the person, said blood pressure measuring unit measures the blood pressure of the person, and said arithmetic unit calculates the value of visceral fat of the person, based on the entered personal data, the measured bioelectrical impedance and the measured blood pressure.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for measuring visceral fat, comprising: an input unit; a bioelectrical impedance measuring unit; a pulse rate measuring unit; and an arithmetic unit, whereby said input unit enters personal data regarding a body of a person to be measured, said bioelectrical impedance measuring unit measures the bioelectrical impedance of the person, said pulse rate measuring unit measures the pulse rate of the person, and said arithmetic unit calculates the value of visceral fat of the person, based on the entered personal data, the measured bioelectrical impedance and the measured pulse rate.
According to further aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for measuring visceral fat, comprising: an input unit; a bioelectrical impedance measuring unit; a blood pressure measuring unit; a pulse rate measuring unit; and an arithmetic unit, whereby said input unit enters personal data regarding a body of a person to be measured, said bioelectrical impedance measuring unit measures the bioelectrical impedance of the person, said blood pressure measuring unit measures the blood pressure of the person, said pulse rate measuring unit measures the pulse rate of the person, and said arithmetic unit calculates the value of visceral fat of the person, based on the entered personal data, the measured bioelectrical impedance, the measured blood pressure and the measured pulse rate.
The apparatus for measuring visceral fat according to the present invention calculates prevalence rate of the person to be measured, based on at least one of the measured blood pressure and pulse rate, and the calculated value of visceral fat.
The apparatus for measuring visceral fat according to the present invention further comprises a memory unit and an evaluation unit, whereby said memory unit stores at least one of the measured blood pressure and pulse rate, and the calculated value of visceral fat, and said evaluation unit evaluates reduced weight condition, based on the previous value of visceral fat and at least one of the blood pressure and pulse rate stored in the memory unit, as well as the calculated current value of visceral fat and at least one of the blood pressure and pulse rate.
In the apparatus for measuring visceral fat according to the present invention said value of visceral fat is of visceral fat area.
The apparatus for measuring visceral fat according to the present invention further comprises a body weight meter that measures the body weight of the person, and the measured body weight is used for calculating the visceral body fat.
The apparatus for measuring visceral fat further comprises a display unit by which at least one of the measured blood pressure and pulse rate as well as the calculated value of visceral fat is displayed in the form of radar chart.
The apparatus for measuring visceral fat further comprises a display unit by which an advice message according to the evaluation result for reduced weight condition is displayed.